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Our volunteers are students and physicians from the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, School of Health Professions, College of Nursing, and School of Public Health. Under the guidance of volunteer physicians and faculty advisors, our students provide care and health-maintenance screening to enrolled patients. We also provide access to a network of specialists who have volunteered to treat our patients at no cost. Students who volunteer at the clinic are highly motivated learners dedicated to community service. The support and generosity of the SUNY Downstate Medical Center gives us the means to provide free, high‐quality services to our patients.
Our Clinic Is...
Our Clinic Is...
MADE UP OF SUNY DOWNSTATE STUDENTS
MADE UP OF SUNY DOWNSTATE STUDENTS
We are a student-run free clinic. A fully-board-certified physician supervises our work and helps us with clinical decision-making.
COMMITTED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
COMMITTED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
We are committed to addressing health disparities in Brooklyn through service. We envision a world in which every patient has the resources they need to be healthy.
PASSIONATE ABOUT EDUCATION
PASSIONATE ABOUT EDUCATION
Through our work we strive to learn both clinical healthcare and about how to become more socially conscious providers.
Our Mission
Our Mission
By focusing the combined talents and energy of SUNY Downstate students, we aim to improve access to comprehensive health services for those in greatest need. The Brooklyn Free Clinic’s mission is to augment existing health programs by expanding coverage to the uninsured and networking with other institutions to improve health care delivery. In addition, we aim to identify issues of direct concern to our target population and work to address them with our patients. As the only medical school in Brooklyn, we take pride in making sure our neighbors receive immediate and preventative health services, including health education in addition to clinical care.
Our History
Our History
Dr. Anne Sarah Kastor (1964–2013) was a physician, educator, and community health advocate whose work shaped the founding of the Brooklyn Free Clinic.
Born in New York and raised in Boston and Philadelphia, Anne earned her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her M.D. from UC San Francisco, where she also trained in internal medicine. In California, she focused on women's health, harm reduction, and HIV care. She moved to Brooklyn in 1999, later joining SUNY Downstate as faculty and a primary care physician, where she mentored the students who would go on to found the Brooklyn Free Clinic in 2007. She subsequently worked to reform medical education, eventually becoming director of the Weill Cornell Community Clinic in 2009.
Anne died of ovarian cancer in 2013 at age 49. She was remembered as a devoted mentor, a progressive activist, and a deeply loving partner to her wife and daughter.
In 2015, the Brooklyn Free Clinic was renamed the Anne Kastor Brooklyn Free Clinic in her honor, continuing her legacy of providing high-quality medical care to Brooklyn's uninsured.
Testimonials
Testimonials
"Brooklyn Free Clinic is a shining example of everything American medicine needs to be (but isn’t at all). I had an amazing experience here last night – from the friendliness of reception to the professionalism of the medical staff – and the only downside I saw was that this free community service is one that more people don’t know about. Hopefully this review will help to change that (BFC wasn’t even a Yelp entry until I added it! I learned about it on the Brokelyn website)."
- Elishevah G.
"I needed to go to the doctor and am in between insurance policies, so I found the Brooklyn Free Clinic online and went the next day during walk-in hours (Wednesday, 5-6pm)… If you don’t have health insurance and need to see a doctor, I’d recommend this clinic! Just make sure you make an appointment in advance. And bring a book to pass the time in the waiting room."
- Brendan F.
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